The people of Bristol are to be asked again what they want to see happen in the area around the Cumberland Basin, as the drafting of a masterplan for the ‘Western Harbour regeneration is about to begin.
But already out are the grand plans for thousands of homes, the ideas of new bridges and dual carriageways, as the new man in charge at City Hall has pledged to do things differently and ask people what they think first, before anything concrete is proposed.
Launching a new consultation ahead of the masterplan being drawn up, Cllr Tony Dyer, the leader of Bristol City Council was joined by the chair of the economy and skills committee, Cllr Andrew Brown, and Alex Lifschutz, the lead architect who has been appointed to develop the masterplan.
On a tour of the area between the Cumberland Basin and the area around the two famous bonded warehouses, which could be the central focus of the regeneration, Cllr Dyer said the consultation now would ask people in Bristol a series of ‘what if?’ questions, to feed into a masterplan being drawn up between now and the New Year.
It’ll be the fourth time in about six years that Bristol City Council has started a consultation exercise on the future of the western end of the harbour, but this time Cllr Dyer said things would be different. This time there are no set plans the council want people to comment on, just a series of questions around the future of the bonded warehouses, the maze of slip roads and flyover roads, the main A370 bridges themselves that cross from Ashton Gate to Hotwells, and the areas of car parks, empty land and green spaces on all three sides of the New Cut and the Cumberland Basin itself.
“I’m not going to talk about what’s happened before with this. We are here now asking the questions. The difference is that we are asking people what they think should happen, rather than presenting plans and asking for views on that,” he said, adding that the only thing guaranteed was that something would happen – because of the need to secure the future of the Brunel Way bridge, and the need for flood defences to be built.
“We need to ensure that the people of Bristol, in particular the people who live in this area or have a strong connection to this area, are able to have their views and engage with the process. Hopefully they will like what we’re proposing this time around, but the one thing is we’re asking the question – what if we did this, rather than saying ‘this is what we are going to do, what do you think?’ We’re asking ‘what if we did this, what else could we do?'” said Cllr Dyer.
“We’re very much at the beginning stages of the masterplan. This is a long term project. We probably won’t be in a position to go to the planning stage for another three or four years. It’s right that we take the time to do it, because we want to make sure we do it right,” he added.
“It’s up to the members of the public to decide. We’re hoping the members of the public will see that what we’re trying to do is go forward in an approach that is much more open, and is inviting people to have their opinions, rather than us setting out what is going to happen, and assuming that people may agree with that.
“I can’t comment on what went on before, I can only comment on our approach, and that’s one about being open about what the challenges are. With a few exceptions – which is that the development is definitely going to happen in one form or another – everything is open for discussion, and we can talk going forward. But what we want to do is make sure that we have some structure and guidelines for those conversations,” he added.
Cllr Dyer had a message for drivers using the A370 Brunel Way every day, and those living in Hotwells and Ashton Gate. “The bridge is part of a vital national road infrastructure and it’s of national importance. So we do need to have a road structure in place. But it has to be a road structure that is fit for purpose and works, so I suspect we may have to look at replacement.
“I think it’s unlikely we’ll be able to get away with refurbishment because with the amount of money that’s going to be invested, we probably need something that is going to be there for a long time, but we recognise that the road structure needs to be there.
“I think our process has been much more about not saying how many homes we’re going to build, we’re looking at the masterplanning, and the masterplanning itself will determine how many homes there will be, once we’ve taken into account the other things we want to provide in the area,” he added.
Cllr Dyer and Mr Lifschutz said the new masterplan would be drawn up with the idea of making the ‘best use of what is here already and we still need, and looking at what we don’t need’.
Previous ideas to drive a dual carriageway through the Riverside Garden Centre and then past the Nova Scotia pub, or to build thousands of homes from Hotwells to Ashton Meadows on the south bank of the New Cut are not being talked of any more.
Instead a much more understated plan which will look at converting the bonded warehouses into residential flats, whether the road network between Cumberland Road and Brunel Way can be radically removed and land freed up for development, and how flood defences can be installed and used to improve connectivity between Ashton Gate and Hotwells.
The big questions over the future of the Brunel Way flyover – whether it’s kept and maintained or replaced, and if it’s replaced, how – will also form part of the masterplan.
Cllr Dyer and Mr Lifschutz both appeared to dismiss the idea of building on the south bank of the New Cut, they described it as ‘vital green space’ that needed improving and being better connected with the rest of the city.
“Part of the exercise is looking at what’s here, and clearly the meadows over here are much loved and it is a very important place to start with,” said Mr Lifschutz. “Most probably that will mean staying as green spaces and it needs to be linked better to the rest of this area.”
For years, council chiefs have wrestled with two pressing issues – which will both cost a fortune. The first is the long term future of the 62-year-old A370 Brunel Way flyover and bridges, which will cost tens of millions to replace, but also tens of millions to keep maintaining, and the need to spend upwards of £100 million on new flood defences to keep the city centre safe from rising sea levels in the 21st century and beyond.
Cllr Dyer said: “Brunel Way is a key part of the road infrastructure, so we need to keep it. Whether that’s with a new bridge or by maintaining what’s there now, I don’t know, I would probably think a new bridge is better in the long run, because we need to make sure it will last for decades more.
“But the question is whether or not we need all these slip roads and ramps, which aren’t particularly well used, and if we don’t, will getting rid of them free up land that can be used for housing,” he added.
The ‘Harbour Hopes’ ‘what if?’ consultation begins in earnest next Monday, with an online presentation on the Harbour Hopes website, and a series of pop-up events and displays at Museum Square, by the M-Shed, Holy Trinity Church in Hotwells and at the Create Centre. The consultation will last until November 15, and then the councillors and architects will go away and draw up the first draft of a masterplan, and bring that back for another round of consultation in the New Year.